Johan Higuita

JOHAN HIGUITA

Software Engineer | Backend Development

ABOUT ME

Software Engineer with professional experience focused on backend development and building reliable, maintainable systems. Experienced in designing APIs, working with data-intensive systems, and ensuring data consistency across services.
I approach engineering problems from a system and business perspective, prioritizing clarity, scalability, and long-term maintainability.
I am currently exploring the practical integration of AI tools into my development workflow to improve productivity and support better technical decisions. Seeking backend-oriented roles where solid system design is valued.

EXPERIENCE

Tech Lead
Talent.com (2021 - 2024)

  • Led a backend team of 4–5 engineers responsible for core data pipelines, ensuring data integrity, consistency, and availability.
  • Designed and proposed system-level solutions to resolve performance bottlenecks and improve data processing workflows.
  • Improved system observability by defining monitoring and alerting strategies, increasing reliability and early issue detection.
  • Collaborated with infrastructure, security, DevOps, and business stakeholders to align backend solutions with operational needs.
  • Managed and prioritized technical debt, balancing short-term delivery with long-term maintainability.
  • Conducted code reviews, defined backend standards, and mentored engineers through technical guidance and knowledge sharing.
  • Technologies: Python, Node, PHP, RabbitMQ, PM2, Elasticsearch

Sr Backend Developer
Talent.com (2019 - 2021)

  • Designed and built a backend data ingestion system using Node to extract and aggregate data from over 50,000 websites, as well as static sources such as JSON and XML.
  • Implemented a distributed data processing pipeline using PHP, Python and a message broker to filter, process, and classify large volumes of extracted data, improving throughput and system performance.
  • Ensured data integrity and consistency in Elasticsearch by implementing automated validation processes and scheduled background jobs.
  • Built internal backend-driven tools to support QA and internal teams, enabling better tracking and visibility of incoming requests and system usage.
  • Developed internal monitoring and alerting tools to track server health, request rates, and processing times, improving system reliability and incident detection.
  • Technologies: PHP, Node, MySQL

Programming Instructor
Pygmalion (2016 - 2018)

  • Taught programming fundamentals using Arduino (C/C++), sensors and actuators.
  • Designed hands-on projects to introduce control flow, hardware abstraction, and debugging.
  • Mentored students in problem-solving and logical thinking.
  • Adapted technical concepts for non-technical audiences.

EDUCATION

Bachelor's in Bioengineering

Universidad de Antioquia (2018)

Intensive Full-Stack Web Development

Make it Real (onsite) (2018)

LANGUAGES

  • Spanish: Native Speaker
  • English: Professional Proficiency

TECHNICAL MENTORING

I value knowledge sharing in IT—learning by teaching and delivering technical talks. I led formal mentoring sessions for company developers and local tech communities, designing JavaScript slide decks covering core concepts, asynchronous programming, and best practices. Sessions focused on practical examples to improve code quality, technical reasoning, and problem-solving.

LEARNING & GROWTH

  • Software Architecture
  • Improving developer workflows with AI tools
  • Testing strategies
  • CI/CD and delivery automation
  • Cloud-based backend systems